Criteria

Institution has conducted an inventory during the previous three years to identify its continuing education courses that address sustainability. These course offerings may include:

Continuing education courses that have been identified as sustainability course offerings using the definitions provided in G. Standards and Terms; and/or

Continuing education courses that have been formally designated as sustainability course offerings in the institution’s standard course listings or catalog.

For each course, the inventory provides:

The title and department (or equivalent) of the course.

A brief description of the course. Courses for which partial or incomplete information is provided may not be counted toward earning points for Part 1 of this credit.

Courses that are typically taken for academic credit are not included in this credit; they are covered in the Curriculum subcategory

Part 2

Institution has at least one sustainability-themed certificate program through its continuing education or extension department.

Degree-granting programs (e.g. programs that confer Baccalaureate, Masters, and Associates degrees) and certificates that are part of academic degree programs are not included in this credit; they are covered in the Curriculum subcategory.

Applicability

This credit applies to institutions that offer continuing education or community education programs.

Scoring

Each part of this credit is scored independently.

Part 1

Institutions earn the maximum of 3 points for Part 1 of this credit when courses that address sustainability comprise 10 or more percent of all continuing education courses offered. Incremental points are awarded based on the percentage of continuing education course offerings that address sustainability. For example, an institution where 5 percent of all continuing education courses offered were sustainability courses would earn 1.5 points (half of the points available for Part 1).

Points for Part 1 of this credit are calculated automatically in the STARS Reporting Tool as follows:

Factor

Number of continuing education courses that address sustainability

Total number of continuing education courses offered

Points earned

30

×

______

÷

______

=

Up to 3

Part 2

Institutions earn 2 points in Part 2 of this credit for having at least one certificate program that meets the criteria outlined above. Partial points are not available for Part 2 of this credit.

Measurement

Timeframe

Part 1

Report on the most recent data available from within the three years prior to the anticipated date of submission. Institutions may count course offerings from one, two, or three academic years, as long as the counts of continuing education courses and sustainability continuing education courses are drawn from the same time period.

Part 2

Report on current program status and offerings at the time of submission.

Sampling and Data Standards

Not applicable

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE
staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution and complete the Data Inquiry Form.

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System

(STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and
universities to measure their sustainability performance.